The Star's Promise
by Akikaze Ryo - Rain55
Summary: Lovino and Feliciano Vargas are identical twin born in the Kingdom of Roma. Fate separated them at a very young age, only to meet again in the middle of conflict. Kingdom AU. SpaMano / PruIta
1. Chapter 1

It has been a long time since I write a story so pardon me if anything came out as weird.

I have been contemplating whether to write a fem!Italy and fem!Romano story or just proceed with Italy and Romano. In the end, I chose Italy and Romano because I personally does not really like fem!Italy (fem!Romano is cute though imo). Nevertheless, I guess it makes no difference to me haha. Anyway, enjoy the story. Since I am currently having a long holiday, I will try to work on this as fast as possible.

Pairings are still a secret for now, the only thing I can tell is that this is not Itacest story. This story is Kingdom AU, not cardverse though, it is just a random kingdom I made of. Then in this story, I did not give any name to Italy and Romano's father, I will just left it as King Vargas.

I guess that's all for the introduction, do enjoy the story.

Disclaimer : Hetalia does not belong to me

* * *

The two boys walked past the back gate of the castle, finding themselves in the vast greenery of the backyard. It was quiet there, compared to the bustling noise in the ballroom where the party was held.

With their hands entwined, the older boy led the smaller boy further into the yard. They chatted, laughed and danced as if nothing else mattered in the world, only stopping when they heard the sound of the fireworks being launched.

While still holding each other hands, the older boy started to open his mouth. His words were follower by a slight nod of his partner, who looked down to hide his embarrassment. Looking at the response, he grinned widely and pulled him for a hug.

"That's a promise."

* * *

"Prince Vargas, it's time to wake up. Breakfast will be served in an hour."

Lovino opened his eyes lazily. Waking up early had not been his virtue, with the addition of the repetitive dream he'd been having, he was not exactly at his best mood now. His mind trailed back to the dream he had been having lately. It was not an unpleasant dream, but the lack of details had annoyed him greatly. He was sure that it was him, with another boy slightly older than himself. However, no matter how many times he tried, he could not make out the face of the boy. He could not make out his words. The only thing that was clear was that he made a promise with him.

His trail of thought was interrupted when his attendant called for him once more, "Prince Vargas, it's time to wake up."

He frowned, "I heard that from the first time, Alfred. Just shut up."

His attendant, goes with the name of Alfred F Jones, also served as his personal bodyguard. Since the incident 10 years ago, his father, King Vargas, banned him from going out by himself. At first, he was confined to his room, only allowed to leave during his lessons. But King Vargas realized that it would not do good for the Prince and decided instead to multiply the security tenfold and give him a bodyguard, personally picked from the best knights in the country.

Alfred backed down hearing his response and stood up in guard in front of the prince's room. He had been with the prince for about 8 years, he knew not to mess around when he was in a bad mood.

Soon enough, Lovino came out from his room, fully dressed with luxurious clothing befitting a prince. Alfred followed him as he made his way to the dining room, only to be stopped halfway by Roderich. Roderich Edelstein was King Vargas' personal attendant. As long as Lovino could remember, he had been at his father's side from the moment he was born.

"Sorry to bother you so early in the morning, Prince Vargas. The King wishes for your presence in his room immediately." Roderich said politely, bowing in the process.

Lovino stopped to think for awhile. His father was a busy man, with the exception of a ceremonial party and the likes, he could count easily how many times he met his father inside the castle itself. He did not resent his father though, for him, King Vargas was a role model, a figure of a king that he wanted to be.

"I will be there." he replied promptly.

* * *

Not far from the main castle, a young man, bearing a striking resemblance with the prince, was looking out from the window. If not from his simple clothing, one would definitely have difficulty in telling both of them apart. The sudden sound of the cuckoo clock hanging by the wall alerted him, breaking his gaze from the outside scenery.

"I guess... It's time..." he muttered. He peeked at the scenery once more, before moving to his wardrobe, revealing a princely clothing that was an obvious contrast to whatever was in the room.

* * *

King Vargas was doing his paperwork when he heard knocks from the door.

"King Vargas, I bring the prince with me."

"Come in."

Roderich opened the door, letting the prince and his bodyguard entered the room.

"Good morning, father. I hope you are doing well." Lovino greeted.

"My son, I am nothing but well." regardless of his reply, it was obvious that the King was exhausted from old age and fatigue, he had been king for considerably long time. "Sir Jones, would you mind to step out for awhile, I need to talk in private," he added.

Without further ado, Alfred retreated back outside. Roderich, knowing that he would be asked to stay, closed the door behind him and proceed to stand beside the King. Lovino couldn't wonder more, what was there to say that even Alfred was not allowed to hear?

After a few moment of silence, King Vargas began his speech. "My son, in one month you will be turning eighteen and I believe you do know that the coronation will be held concurrently."

"Yes, father."

"To prevent any incident, like 10 years ago..." he paused for awhile, "I have prepared something for you."

Lovino tensed, but kept quiet and held his chest. Everytime someone mentioned about the incident 10 years ago, he would feel his chest tightening. Honestly, he did not remember fully what had happened, but he would always feel sick and dizzy upon the mention of the incident.

"Sir Edelstein, bring him out."

Upon hearing the order, Roderich walked towards the side door, gesturing to someone on the other side of the room.

Lovino's eyes were wide open in shock. He did not expect to see what was presented in front of him. A young man who looks exactly like him, standing beside Roderich. He retorted, while still trying to be as polite as possible to his father, "What's the meaning of this, father? Who is this man?!"

"Introduce yourself," the King demanded.

The young boy looked surprised as he started fidgeting, "Ah, umm... My name is Feliciano. Umm... Starting today, I will serve as your body double, Prince Vargas." he said in a soft voice.

Body double? Lovino knew about it. That was when someone with an important position was to be represented by someone similar to avoid threat or something. But he believe that it was not necessary. Why would he need a body double? He could defend himself, he also had a bodyguard by his side. Really, what could go wrong?

Before he had a chance to protest, the King cleared his throat and glared at the prince. Lovino stopped in his track, not saying anything. One thing he knew very well about his father is that he should not try enraged him ever.

"You know the deal, my son. No one may know about Feliciano's existence in this kingdom. Only me, Sir Edelstein, you and Sir Feliciano himself. Not even Sir Jones I have to add. He will stay in your room 24/7 and attend all your businesses until the end of the coronation. Do you understand?"

Lovino hesitated for awhile. He knew what his father was worried about, Kingdom of Roma was a large kingdom and it had been revered as one of the largest ruler of the country. However, it was exactly because of the same reason that a lot of kingdoms tried to take over the Kingdom of Roma. He must admit that one of the best opportunity was to kill Lovino. As the heir of the Kingdom, if he was gone, the country would fell into chaos and it would be an easy prey to domination.

He sighed inwardly, unable to voice out any objection, " I understand, father."

Feliciano smiled hearing Lovino's response, but no one could miss a tinge of sadness in his hazel eyes. After a few moments of idle chats, Lovino was dismissed.

He dismissed Alfred, preventing the bodyguard to get a grasp of the situation he was currently in, then Roderich led both of them back to Lovino's room.

The moment he stepped into the room, he jumped into his bed, burying himself under the pillow of comfort.

"Sigh, what a way to start a day" he complained.

Feliciano, still unaccustomed to the situation only stood in silence near the door. It took Lovino awhile to realize that his body double was still there and he made a gesture, asking him to come nearer to the side of his bed. He stared at him which caused Feliciano to flinched.

"You really do look like me, I'm amazed."

"Eh, ah, umm... I guess I do, Prince Vargas,"

Lovino frowned upon the reply and gave Feliciano a smack on the head. Feliciano winced and proceeded to rub his head, teary.

"Don't call me prince! Since you'll be here most of the time, I will die if I have to bear with the formality every single moment."

"Then what should I call you?" Feliciano asked innocently.

"Lovino will do."

Feliciano's face beamed up, a wide smile accompanying his reply, "Then I guess I'll call you Lovi. Nice to meet you, Lovi, I hope we can get along."

Lovino was flustered, he could feel his face redden and he buried his face into the pillow once again. It had been a long time since someone called him in that friendly manner, he did not expect it to be that embarrassing. Under the pillow, Feliciano could hear him muttering, something about how he asked him to call him Lovino instead of Lovi.

* * *

Well, that's it for the intro...

I will try to write longer the next chapter.

Anyway, sorry if the character sounds a bit OOC.

Do review if you like the story, thank you :D


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, so I decided to just upload short story every now and then as I think I am not meant for longer chapters.

I just hope that people are still interested in the story. Hope everyone enjoys it.

* * *

The King waited impatiently outside the room, the atmosphere was heavy and he could only heard painful wails and screams from behind the door that separated him and the Queen. He walked in circle again and again, unable to focus on anything. Roderich tried to calm the anxious King, but nothing can cease his worries and excitement at that moment.

He perked up when the wailing stopped, replaced by joyful cries. Soon, he was called in, congratulated by the women and attendants inside. He quickly made his way to the Queen who was lying down on her bed, tiny body, wrapped in a warm white blanket, could be seen resting beside her. The King smiled widely, unable to contain his joy. The Queen did the same, but there was a hint of hesitation in her eyes.

"Dear, we have a twin." she said softly as she revealed the two newborn babies sleeping under her arms.

The King was caught in surprise. Both of them knew what the twin could do to the country. No, twin was not a sign of bad omen or anything similar in the kingdom. However, having a twin as a firstborn could bring a disaster in the future. He had heard, seen with his own eyes, of kingdoms and countries that perished due to this one reason. It was dreadful, the fight for the throne.

At that moment, the King had decided. He needed to choose the righteous heir for the kingdom. He could not hesitate, for the sake of his kingdom, for the sake of his family.

It's better to save one than to lose both.

* * *

"Feli, we have something to tell you."

Feliciano who was doing his house chores stopped in his track. His mother and father stood beside each other with a serious face, but still looking at him with their usual gentle eyes. Feliciano could somewhat tell that it was going to be something important and he put aside his deck brush, stood face to face with his believed to be parents and hold her mother's hand gently.

His mother, a middle aged woman goes with the name of Elizabeta Herdevery, pulled him into a hug, "Feli, just remember that no matter what happens, you will always be our son."

Feliciano wondered about the meaning of his mother's words, but he adapted to it quickly.  
"You are the son of your majesty, King Vargas and you are the legitimate sibling of the crown prince, Prince Lovino Vargas."

* * *

Lovino woke up by the sound of loud knocking on the door, but he could not bother to wake up properly this time. He had spend the whole night, trying to explain every single details about him and the castle to Feliciano . Despite his initial objection, he was determined to make sure that Feliciano could do his job properly. He yawned and he could see Feliciano looking out of the window, already properly dressed and ready.

"Good morning, Lovi." Feliciano greeted with a smile.

Lovino could not get used to someone calling him Lovi all of a sudden so he just kept quiet, until a certain idea came up in his mind. He once again gestured for Feliciano to came nearer to him and Feliciano complied to it.

"Since you're here, why don't you try replying Alfred for me?" he challenged him with a grin.

He took Feliciano by surprise, but Feliciano did not object to it. He knew that it was his role anyway and he needed to get used to it soon. He needed to be able to impersonate Lovino as an individual. He cleared his throat, trying to make his voice as deep, as powerful, as threatening as possible.

"S.. Shut up, Alfred, I am awake..."

Lovino could not contain his laugh anymore, he buried his face in a pillow, muffled laughter could be heard from beneath. He would praise Feliciano for his effort, but if he was to grade his performance, he would give him 2 out of 10. Feliciano was indeed his copy by appearance, but their personality and upbringing is the exact opposite of each other. While Lovino had a strong and demanding aura around him, one would describe Feliciano as soft and powerless.

Blood rushed to Feliciano's face as he realized the mistake he had done.

Alfred caught up to it almost immediately, he had been waking him almost every morning and never once he heard his voice becomes so soft like that. Once again, he knocked on the door, "Prince Vargas, are you alright? Your voice sounds different."

Inside the room, Lovino continued to laugh while Feliciano started to panic. He tried to think of words to say, but nothing came op to his mind. Soon realizing his distress, Lovino shouted at the door.

"I'm fine, Alfred, give me my schedule for today and you are dismissed."

Feliciano sighed in relieve and a moment of silence was observed. At last, Alfred decided that it was just his imagination and proceeded to read out his schedule for the day, returning to his post afterwards.

Lovino admitted, it had been a long time since he could laugh freely like that in front of someone. His position and social status had been preventing him from having genuine friends and companions, someone he could talk to freely without politics behind their conversations. He admitted, he was glad that Feliciano was there.

He had learned yesterday that Feliciano, goes with he full name of Feliciano Edelstein, was Roderich's adopted son. However, the more he thought about it, he wondered why his father's personal attendant were willing to adopt him. Something like, was he adopted into the royal family just to be used as body double? Or is it just a coincidence that he grew up looking very similar to himself? He could not bear to ask this question to Feliciano himself.

"That was a brilliant attempt, Feli." he retorted.

Feliciano hanged his head lowly, muttering an apology in the process.

"Well, that's fine. But I need you to do something for me today." Lovino at last got out from his bed, reaching the wardrobe and proceeded to change while continuing his sentences, "You know, there is this engagement talk going on today with the neighborhood Kingdom, Alfred mentioned it just now."

Feliciano listened to him attentively, trying to catch his way of speech.

"Well, in any case, I don't believe I have met the prince before and I just don't care. I really don't like going to this kind of stuff, anyway, most of them came because of my wealth and position. But basically, reject him for me." Lovino continued nonchalantly.

Feliciano smiled, he was glad inwardly that Lovino was not angry at him and he was glad that he was given another chance. He remembered when he first came here (which is just the day before), he was really nervous and he had expected that Prince Vargas, his brother, was going to be scary and mean. But he turned out to be a nice person, a bit rude, but nevertheless kind and caring to him. He did not regret his decision, he would not regret his decision.

* * *

The clock strikes twelve at noon and a young man, with silver hair and eyes as red as blood, arrived at the main gate of the kingdom. The guards opened the main gate for him, allowing him to trot inside with his black horse that accentuates the colour of his hair.

He left his horse in the royal stable and proceeded to walk towards the main entrance, stopping when he saw a large fountain in the middle of the garden.

"It's been 10 years..." he muttered clutching on the cross he bears on his chest as he continued his walk.

* * *

Feliciano walked towards the guest room, along with Alfred who was following him from behind. He tried his best to follow what Lovino had told him before he made his way for his appointment.

'Maintain a stern look, do not speak at all unless necessary, just reject him and return to the room immediately' he repeated those sentences in his mind over and over again.

He reached the guest room soon enough and one of the attendant proceeded to open the door, allowing him to enter the room. Inside the room was a young man with a brown and slightly disheveled hair. His green eyes quickly trailed at Feliciano as he entered the room and he stood up, bowing politely.

The man's attendant, followed his master to bow and greeted politely, "Prince Vargas, we are very pleased to meet you today. Standing here is the righteous heir of the Kingdom of Espana, Prince Antonie Fernandez Carriedo."

Feliciano just nodded, trying his best to keep frowning in the process. For Feliciano who was not used to frowning all the time, that was not an easy feat to do. He also used the chance to study the man's feature. Unlike what Lovino had explained, this man named Antonio looked gentle to him.

The prince dropped his formality almost immediately, approaching Feliciano and took his hand, just to be given a glare by Alfred who was keeping his alert. When Antonio took notice of that, he signaled for his attendant to leave the room and to give them some privacy. Feliciano followed swiftly, signaling for Alfred to leave.

After all the other attendants left, Feliciano felt more relaxed. Only Antonio and him were left in the room and since Antonio was not acquainted with Lovino, he would be less likely to be found out if he made a mistake. At least, that's what he thought.

Without any further notice, Antonio pulled Feliciano to a hug, "Lovi, it's been so long! How have you been?"

Feliciano was caught in surprise. He thought it should have been Lovino's first meeting with Antonio. He panicked and whatever Lovino said before flew out of his mind and he frantically trying to fix it.

"Ah... Yeah..."

"Oh, sorry, I got caught up in the moment." Antonio released him, still holding on to his shoulder, "But it really has been so long, Lovi, I'm really glad we could meet again."

Antonio looked at his eyes only to find the younger prince looked flustered and confused. At that moment, Feliciano could not make out anything in his state of panic. He tried to think of something to say, maybe pretending that he remember him, but the correct words just could not came out of his mouth.

"A... Antonio, I apolo..."

"Lovi!" Feliciano's words were cut by Antonio, now with a serious face. Antonio grabbed him tightly in the shoulder, his face now on eye level with Feliciano and he is staring longingly at Feliciano's eyes.

"I really don't want to see you due to the kingdom's affair like engagement and such, but I have no choice, it's the only way they will allow me to meet you personally." Antonio continued. Feliciano sighed in relieve, does that mean he did not actually need to reject the engagement formally? Antonio was there just to greet an old friend and he would leave soon after, at least that's what he thought.

"Well, I'm glad to see you again, Antonio," Feliciano, almost fully relaxed now, replied him, unaware of an uncharacteristic smile that was plastered on his face.

Antonio looked at him for awhile, before smiling back, "Ah, but... Lovi, do you remember.. You know, the promise we made like... 10 years ago?" he continued, slight pink coloration could be seen in his face.

Feliciano did not see any harm in the mention of a promise and he just nod, trying to pretend that he knew what Antonio was talking about. He was just going to tell Lovino about it later.

Antonio's face now filled with hope and expectation as he continued to ask, "So... Is it still valid?"

Again, Feliciano saw no harm in answering.

"Of course, Antonio," he replied, again with a smile.

Antonio shouted in joy upon hearing his response and pulled Feliciano to another hug, "Thank you, Lovi! I will make sure that you will become the happiest bride in the world!"

Feliciano did not expect that kind of reply at all as he tried to register what Antonio just said. Bride? What kind of promise did Lovino made with Antonio? And what worse was, did he actually just said yes to the engagement? Once again, Feliciano entered a panic mode.

* * *

Okay that's all for today. I guess people would be able to kinda guess the pairing already, but yeah.

Do review if you like it :D


	3. Chapter 3

Hi all, thank you for all the review . It really motivates me to continue writing as fast as possible and I'm really glad that some people like the story.

So now, I have scheduled the update every 2 working days, with exception if I'm busy.

So yeah, enjoy the story :D

* * *

Nothing can describe the state of Antonio's heart but full of joy at that moment. He did not expect it at all. He did not expect Lovino to say yes so easily to his proposal. He had hoped at least the prince would remember at least the promise they made, but it was definitely much better than his expectation!

He remembered it clearly. 10 years ago, during Kingdom of Roma's opening ceremony (a party meant to introduce the prince as the righteous heir of the kingdom), he met him and fell in love with him. He had proposed to him at that time. One would think that it was just a child's whim, but the promise was very important to him. He had actually planned to visit the Kingdom as often as possible to see Lovino, but strangely, after that day, the Kingdom completely cut the connection to other kingdom.

As a young boy himself, he was denied of any access to his neighboring kingdom and he was not able to visit, not even see his beloved, not until this day. He had heard of rumors going around in the country. Something about an incident that threaten the kingdom's future and security, causing the current king to become overprotective of his son, the prince.

He was worried for a few months, worried about Lovino's safety in the secluded Kingdom of Roma. However, his worried was quickly brushed off when he heard the news about Lovino's well-being. Even though he was not able to see him, it was enough for him at that time, to know that Lovino was safe and he was not hurt.

When he, at last, was able to meet again with Lovino, he definitely could not contained his excitement. He looked exactly like what he had remembered from his childhood. Silky, brown hair, with a cute curl protruding on the side. Shiny hazel eyes that looks far into the future. He seemed to have mellowed out compared to the past though.

Antonio let go of Feliciano at last, revealing the flustered young prince under his hold. Antonio chuckled, amused of the reaction, thinking that the other was just nervous and embarrassed by his loving gesture. However, he soon realized something was wrong when he heard the sound of ragged and heavy breathing.

"Lovi? Are you okay?" he asked softly and took a closer look at Feliciano. There was definitely something wrong, his face was red and flustered, he did not look well. His breathing was heavy and he saw that he had been clutching on his chest tightly. Feliciano soon lapsed into hyperventilation and fell towards him.

"Lovi?!"

That was the last thing Feliciano heard before his consciousness fade into the darkness.

* * *

Meanwhile in the port of Roma, a cargo ship had just arrived. One peculiar passenger wore a cape, his face was almost fully covered by the hood. Unlike other passengers, he carried no luggage or briefcase, there was only a long tube like container slinged on his back.

The captain started to order everyone on board to alight as they extended the bridge to the port and the ship soon became almost empty. The man did not budge from his place, he just stood at the edge of the main deck, admiring the vast blue sea.

One of the crew approached him, confused as to why the passenger had not leave the deck, "Excuse me, sir, we have reached our destination."

The man didn't move, still looking at the sea, he asked nonchalantly, "Hey, you know, there's going to be coronation in this Kingdom soon right?"

The ship crew was a bit confused, from his look, one would guess that he was native to the kingdom, but his question said otherwise, "Are you a tourist, sir? Yes, I have heard that the Prince will be crowned in three weeks time."

A smile formed on the man's face, "Is that so?" He eventually turned around, the wind blowing on his cape revealed the sharp deep green eyes under the darkness of his hood.

* * *

Feliciano opened his eyes slowly. His head felt heavy.

"Oh, Feli, you're awake."

Feliciano quickly turned to the source of the voice, discovering Lovino who was sitting on the edge of the bed. At that moment, he realized that he was in the prince's room. He propelled forward, he knew he shouldn't have been there. He was with Antonio but he could not make out what happened earlier.

"Calm down, Feli, you just passed out during the meeting." Lovino mentioned monotonously, looking at Feliciano who looked very lost and confused. He continued, "After you passed out, Sir Edelstein took over and brought you back to the room."

Feliciano was disappointed with himself, he was given a simple job and he passed out. Meekly, he muttered a soft apologize. Lovino started to frown and throw a glare at Feliciano.

"Come on, man! He said you collapsed because of exhaustion! You did not get any sleep last night right?! You should have told me you could not sleep on the sofa!"

Feliciano was caught in surprise when Lovino started to raise his voice. He was right, he was not used to it, he was not used to everything in the main castle, everything. His worries and restlessness had prevented him to get a good sleep the previous night.

"From now on, you will sleep on the bed! You hear that right?!"

"Eh, but..."

"No objection." Lovino reprimanded before Feliciano had the chance to sound any objection, "Anyway, the bed is too big for only one person."

Feliciano could not help but to smile, "Thank you, Lovi."

A slight pink coloration could be seen on Lovino's face now, he quickly stood up, trying to change the topic, stammering in the process, "A.. Anyway, the meeting... You rejected that bastard right?"

At this point of time, Feliciano had learned that what Lovino tend to call anyone 'bastard' regardless whether he really meant it or not. It was like the word itself had been etched into his mind strongly. He would refer anyone as 'bastard' indiscriminately, including Alfred, himself, and even his father.

Feliciano's mind trailed back to the meeting with the prince early on the day. Suddenly, he was reminded of another grave mistake he made. That mistake was not something that he could brush off with just an apology. Feliciano started to cry, "Lovi, I'm really sorry! I will do anything so don't be angry please!"

His sudden cry shocked Lovino more than anything, his face turned pale, "Did you mean... You accepted it?"

Before Feliciano had the time to answer properly, both of them were caught off guard by the commotion outside the room. Two people were heard shouting to each other, Lovino could recognize that one was Alfred's but he did not have any recognition of the other voice.

"Just let me in for awhile!"

"You cannot just barge into the Prince's room without permission, Sir Beilschmidt. Regardless of your position!"

That was Alfred. Lovino could at least register that someone is trying to barge into the room and he turned to Feliciano, "Find a place to hide."

Feliciano, with the unfamiliarity with his surroundings and his childlike mind, quickly buried himself under the blanket on the bed he was in. At that moment, Lovino was glad he did not make his bed most of the time, the addition of Feliciano under the messy bed would certainly not caught any attention.

Immediately after, the door was forced open. Lovino's attention was brought to the door. His gaze met a silver haired man and somehow, he could not take his eyes off from his deep red eyes. When the unknown man caught the sight of Lovino, his mouth formed a wide grin.

"Lovi, I'm glad you're alright!"

Lovino noted that it was the same grouchy voice he had heard from inside the room. The man had entered his room without permission, but currently that was not what had bothered Lovino the most. He had called Lovino with familiarity as if he had known Lovino personally, as if he had the authority to do so. That really send a shiver to his spine, he did not like it.

"Who are you? What are you doing, barging in into my room without permission?!" Lovino snarled, an obvious frown on his face.

The silver haired man flinched, but quickly recovered, "What are you saying, Lovi? It's me, we met 10 years ago! During the opening ceremony remember?"

Alfred stepped in and interjected, "Prince Vargas, this man is Gilbert Beilschmidt from Teutonic Knight. Upon request of Sir Edelstein, from today onward, he will be assigned as your bodyguard."

Lovino kept quiet for awhile. Gilbert Beilschmidt, his name did not ring a bell in his memory. Despite the slight detail Gilbert had given him, he had no recollection of meeting someone with the name of Gilbert Beilschmidt. He was also sure that he would definitely remember someone as eccentric as Gilbert, with his silver hair and deep red eyes, regardless of his scattered memory of the past.

"Alfred, I did not approve of this. Dismissed this man immediately."

Alfred proceeded to take hold of Gilbert's arm, trying to drag him out of the room. However, Gilbert swiftly jerked his hand away, releasing his grip from the other knight.

"You may not remember me, but I do! I came here to fulfill the promise we made." Gilbert's voice softened and he placed his hand on his chest, clutching the cross he bears.

The word 'promise' made Lovino twitched. His mind trailed back to the dream he had been having over and over again. A promise, with someone. Could this man be?

Gilbert approached Lovino once again and he fell to his knees, "I swear my loyalty to you, Prince Lovino Vargas," Gilbert continued, his voice full of conviction, "I swear to protect you from any incoming danger. Since that incident, I-"

Before he was able to finish what he wanted to say, Gilbert was stopped by a sharp blade pointed at his neck.

"No mention of the incident is allowed. Sir Beilschmidt, please obey the prince's command at once." Alfred growled, his sword unsheathed.

Gilbert definitely refused to back down at that point, but he knew he should not go against the order, not when a sword was on his neck, and he just clenched his fist in frustration.

Lovino started to get exasperated at that point, the mention of the incident, why would it not be allowed in the kingdom? He did not think much about it before, because no one would mention about it and it would soon be taken as the sound of passing wind. But now that it was brought up again and again, he wanted to confirm it. He wanted to know for himself, about the incident 10 years ago. In addition, he had yet to ask Gilbert about the so called 'promise'. If Gilbert could provide him with the answer, he would make him stay.

"Halt, Alfred." Lovino opened his mouth just when Gilbert started to comply, "I changed my mind. Let him stay."

Gilbert eyes widened upon hearing that and Alfred silently sheath his sword back to its respectful place. Gilbert, who could not contain his excitement anymore, jumped on the prince, catching Lovino off guard as he fell backwards.

"Lovi, you're the best!"

"Oi, you bastard! Get off me right now!"

That was the second time on that day that Gilbert felt something cold on his neck. This time, it was closer and he could feel slight pain as a slit formed on his pale skin.

"What are you doing to my fiancé... "

When Gilbert peered over his attacker, his gaze was met with an intense glare from a brown haired man. It was Antonio, claiming Lovino as his fiancé, he rose to his defense, determined to protect his partner from what he had seen as a threat.

Alfred was tempted to do just the same to the newbie again, but he had decided to step off when he was beaten to it by the neighboring prince. Anyway, he had heard previously that the prince had accepted his proposal and thus, was engaged to Prince Carriedo.

Gilbert did not back down easily, he return the glare with another piercing stare. He studied the man's feature carefully before he stood up, raising one hand to show that he was not hostile.

"I did not do anything to him."

"That was definitely something," Antonio retorted, refusing to back down either. His sword still pointing at Gilbert.

"I didn't and I tell no lies."

"Then why is he on the ground?"

The seemingly pointless argument continued for some times. This time, Lovino was dumbfounded. Well, he knew it was Feliciano's fault one way or another, but on one side, there was this man, claiming to be his fiancé. On the other side, there was this man, claiming to have known him from the past.

"All you bastard, get out of my sight at this instance!" Lovino shouted, he was obviously angry now. Leaving no space for argument, he demanded everyone to get out of the room, not even caring about the questions he had meant to ask the silver haired man.

Alfred caught up quickly, gesturing for the quarreling men to stop and leave immediately. Certainly, he knew when not to mess with the young prince. Antonio and Gilbert hesitated for a moment, only after they took a second look at Lovino that they decided to leave (immediately).

The door was closed, the room was finally quiet. Lovino shook his head, he was definitely going to get a headache tonight.

* * *

Soooooo, that's all for now~

Well, who did Lovino actually made the promise with? Find out in the next chapter~ (or not actually haha)

Do leave review if you are still interested :D Or if there is anything you want to ask :)


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you for all the review! :D I am one working day late since I was a bit busy with something and I feel that this chapter is somehow rushed but I did not have as much time as I thought haha (or actually I got distracted very easily these days ).

Anyway, I read the review and I guess different people want different pairings, but I have decided about the pairings since the moment I wrote this story. So just wait for it and enjoy :D

And also about the gender role and such, it was most probably my language problem, so I'm sorry about that, hope you still enjoy the story though.

I guess that's all, do wait for the next update in... hopefully 2 working days :P

* * *

After basically getting kicked out of the room, Gilbert and Antonio somehow still continued their pointless bickering.

"Now, look at what you've done. You've make him mad."

"That was not my fault, it was you who made him angry isn't it?" Gilbert retorted.

Antonio frowned and he finally asked, "Who are you anyway? What are you doing in the Prince's room?"

"I'm the GREAT Gil…" Gilbert was cut off by Alfred clearing his throat. Well, Alfred had been watching since the beginning and he decided that he needed to interrupt before it became bigger problem than it is.

"Prince Carriedo, this is Sir Gilbert Beilschmidt. He has been appointed as Prince Vargas' bodyguard from today onwards." Alfred said calmly, maintaining stoic look on his face.

Antonio was shocked for a while, he could not imagine someone like Gilbert to work as a bodyguard. He took a closer look at him and studied his figure. For a young knight, he did look capable and fit physically, but his attitude caused worries to Antonio. He did not want Lovino to be guarded by someone with seemingly carefree attitude like Gilbert. He really had his doubt about his capability as a bodyguard.

Alfred now looked towards Gilbert, "Sir Beilschmidt, this is Prince Carriedo and he is Prince Vargas' fiancé."

Gilbert had known about it since Antonio declared it not so long ago. Now it was his turn to study him carefully. He had heard about Antonio's kingdom before, the Kingdom of Espana. The Kingdom relied heavily on vegetables and crops. It sounded primitive but it was actually one of the most prosperous kingdom around the neighbouring kingdom. Antonio was the third son of the current King and he had heard that he rarely made his appearance in the public. Regardless, Gilbert knew that the two Kingdoms had been on a good term with each other and at least Antonio seemed to genuinely care about Lovino. The red mark on his neck had convinced him so.

Alfred cleared his throat again and he asked permission from Antonio to dismiss them as they still have some business to attend to. Antonio was hesitant for a while, but he decided to let it go for now. This was not his Kingdom and he knew his say would not worth much at this point of time. However, he was determined to do anything to protect Lovino. If Gilbert did anything that endangers the prince, he would not hesitate to take action. Antonio soon left, leaving the two bodyguards in front of the Prince's Room.

The rest of the day was spent by Alfred trying to explain to the new bodyguard about his job scope and whatnots. On contrary to Alfred's belief, Gilbert was a good listener and he took his job seriously.

For the past 10 years, Gilbert had dedicated himself to the order of the Knight. Training to become one of the best knight in the Kingdom, he spent countless hours on trainings and fights. His determination rooted from the incident that happened in the Kingdom. He had blamed his weak self for the incident and he felt that he needed to become stronger, in order to protect the people whom he cared about. He had thrown away his status as a noble and toned down his ego, everything in order to be able to stay by his side.

His resolve had earned him the title of the best Knight in his age group. Since the coronation was going to be held in a few weeks, he had expected the Kingdom to increase security and hired him as a gatekeeper or guard. However, much to his joy, he had received an offer to become the Prince's personal bodyguard. He would not miss this chance. This time, he was determined to protect him to the end.

* * *

They sat across each other, by a small round coffee table stood between them. Feliciano held his face down, he knew what was coming next was not going to be nice. Lovino folded his arm and stared at Feliciano who seemed to be very scared of him right now.

"I demand an explanation for this, Feliciano." Lovino growled, still staring.

Feliciano cowered back, Lovino sounded so angry to him and with a low voice, he muttered a reply, "That… umm…"

"I cannot hear you damn it! Speak louder!"

Feliciano moved back in shocked, he did not expect Lovino to suddenly raised his voice like that. Now he was really scared and he felt like tearing up, but he tried his best not to. "I'm sorry!" he tried to say as loud as possible.

Lovino realised that Feliciano was trying his best not to cry and he let out a long sigh. "This whole mess is giving me a headache. Come on, Feli, what's done is done. Just tell me what happened." Lovino proceeded to say, now with a softer tone, trying to assure Feliciano that he would not get angry anymore. To be exact, he actually had no more energy to get angry.

Feliciano gathered his courage, "Actually… I think I somehow… said yes to the engagement."

"Well, that definitely seems the case. I heard him loud and clear, he said I'm his fiancé."

"But he looks like a nice person." Feliciano continued, "And he seems to know you already."

Lovino took the time to register what Feliciano had said. Antonio may have claimed to have known him but he had no memory of someone like him. He saw him during the mess earlier but even after that, he did not recognise Antonio as his acquaintance.

Honestly, Antonio did not look bad (compared to his other suitor he believed) and he could see that Antonio was really trying to protect him just now. He had guessed that somehow the news about the engagement had been spread around the kingdom, judging from Alfred's behaviour. After some thinking, Lovino let out another long sigh. He decided to take the chance. Anyway, he did not want to bother the King for something so trivial.

"Whatever, I will see him tomorrow. I'm going to rest, you should too, Feli," he said as he walked off.

Feliciano looked at him, trying to assess his mood which seems to be better now. He did not actually expect Lovino to accept it so easily, but considering the sequence of events that had just happened, he remained quiet. To tell the truth, Feliciano was intrigued by the incident that Gilbert and Alfred mentioned before. He had been in the Kingdom since birth and he did not recall any incident that needs to be kept a secret in the Kingdom itself. When he thought about it, he actually did not remember much about his childhood as well. He had meant to ask Lovino about it, but he quickly brushed it off , knowing Lovino's bad mood.

With that, Feliciano just stood up and retreated for the day.

* * *

A man was seen sitting on the branch of a large tree just outside the castle's stone wall. The hood he was wearing had camouflaged him nicely, not that anyone would expect to see a person there.

"You're here early."

A voice was heard, calling out to the mysterious man. The man did not move, he simply smirked, "Twenty more days. There's no harm in being early."

"You're the same as ever. Anyway, do you remember the silver haired boy?"

"Silver haired? Ah, of course, that boy. We would have failed miserably if it was not because of him last time." the hooded man replied sarcastically.

"You did fail your mission 10 years ago, I remind you."

"I won't fail again, I assure you."

"Well… Good luck to you then, Arthur."

* * *

The next day, Lovino rose early to see Antonio. He had decided to assess the man for himself. If he looked up to his standard (which was actually a pretty high standard), he would suck it up and proceed with the engagement. It would do good for the Kingdom anyway as it would maintain the relation with the other Kingdom. Lovino at the same time also tried to convince himself that there was no need for him to be thoroughly involved with the man in the end, because even if he accepted the engagement, it could be passed as something called political marriage.

He had left early and secretly, not wanting Alfred and especially Gilbert, to follow him. He had wanted to ask Gilbert some questions about the past, but he decided to do that later and finish the more pressing matter first.

Soon, he reached the guest room where Antonio was staying and he knocked on the door.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the same time, Gilbert woke up early. He had meant to see Lovino early to ask some question. He knew he was not supposed to do that but he just needed to ask, he would do this once and after this, he would dedicated himself just to his job.

Gilbert proceeded to the Prince's room and took over Alfred's shift. Now that there were two of them, they divided their shift into two, with Alfred mostly taking the night shift and Gilbert taking the afternoon shift. During important meeting or ceremony though, the two of them would be on guard. After making sure that Alfred left, Gilbert knocked on the door.

"Prince Vargas, may I come in?"

On the other side of the door, Feliciano was making the bed. He basically had nothing to do when he was alone so he usually try to find anything he could do, mostly cleaning and tidying the prince's room. He could recognise the voice as Gilbert's as he heard his voice yesterday. He had not seen him though, but he was sure that it was him, his voice was just easy to differentiate somehow. Feliciano knew that Lovino left early without telling the bodyguards so he thought for awhile.

If he did not answer, he may just barged in to check and he would be found out. If he hid in the room, one may think that the prince had disappeared and it may cause problem. In the end, Feliciano decided to reply, trying to imitate Lovino's tone and voice as much as possible, "What is it, Gilbert?"

It was quiet for a while before the door was open with a loud sound and Gilbert emerged from the other side, smiling widely. Feliciano was caught in surprise, not only by the sudden opening of the door, but also by Gilbert's appearance. It was his first time seeing Gilbert and it was his first time seeing someone with a silver hair and eyes as red as his. Normally, he would feel scared, but somehow Gilbert did not instill fear on him.

"Hi, Lovi. Ah, don't worry, I won't rushed on to you like yesterday." Gilbert quickly defended himself when he saw Feliciano taking a step backwards. Gilbert realised that the prince looked different from yesterday, more relaxed he would say and he concluded that Lovino was just in a very bad mood the previous day.

Feliciano tried to force a frown on his face, "What do you want?"

"Well, I just want to ask something." Gilbert said softly, his expression turns solemn, "Do you really not remember me? How about the promise? Do you… remember about it?"

A sense of déjà vu came to Feliciano, not so long ago, he was also asked about a promise. But he learned from his mistake, he learned that saying yes would not solve it, especially remembering the fact that the previous day, Lovino had claimed that he did not remember him.

"I have to apologize." Feliciano said calmly.

Gilbert was dejected by his reply, not that he expected anything from his reaction the previous day. However, his heart had inevitably hoped that he had remember at least something about him after the whole incident yesterday.

"That alright, Lo… Prince Vargas. I will go back to my duty."

Just before the door was closed, Gilbert muttered softly, "Sorry."

Then Gilbert left. Looking at Gilbert's expression, Feliciano could not help but to think twice. Was it really the best decision to say 'no' just now?

* * *

End of this chapter, do Review if you like it XD


	5. Chapter 5

At last I can update again~

Sorry for the delay, I was sick the previous week and I really could not get myself to work on my laptop. I will try my best to update as fast as possible this week.

As usual, thank you for the review :D Someone was asking if Ludwig is going to make an appearance, after reading this chapter I think the pairing will be quite (very) obvious, so I'm just going to answer bluntly, no. I considered it for awhile, but I really don't know what role is good so I scrapped the idea.

Anyway, idk why somehow this chapter is like divided into a lot of small parts. I hope it's still okay though.

That's all for now, I hope everyone still enjoy the story :D Do review if you like it~

* * *

It was early in the morning that day and Antonio sat in his room, holding a paper on his hand. It was a letter from his Kingdom, from the King or his father to be exact. He looked at the letter over and over again, a painful expression was plastered on his face. Suddenly, he could hear knocking on the door. Before he approached the door, he crumpled the letter on his palm and set it aside on the table.

He had expected it to be one of the maid or one of his attendant, but the voice from across the door really caught him off guard.

"Antonio, are you there?"

He recognised that voice, that was definitely Lovino's voice. Without even replying, he proceeded to open the door. Lovino, on the other side, was quite surprised by the opening of the door, followed by the sudden hug by the taller prince.

"Lovi, good morning. You're looking for me?"

Lovino did not really appreciate the friendly gesture, his face turns pink immediately. He was really not used to that kind of skin contact. Normally, he would already shouted and pushed him away. However, he knew that it was still very early and he went there not to make a fuss, so he tried his best not to make any loud noise that would attract attention and pushed him back slowly.

"Ah, Yeah. Like… I was wondering if…" Lovino stopped in between words, his attention focus more on trying to push the man away and get away from his tight embrace.

Antonio at last pulled back a bit, creating some distance between him and Lovino. "Yes?" he asked, his voice full of innocence and sweetness. His eyes were staring expectantly, straight at Lovino's hazel eyes. His smile could not leave his face anymore. Regardless of the reason, he was joyful that Lovino had come to see him.

At that moment, time seemed to have stopped for Lovino. He got this feeling, when looking at Antonio's clear green eyes, something akin to nostalgic feeling. He felt that he had seen it before, the bright and innocent smile. His brain just stopped working and words no longer came out from his mouth.

Antonio was brought into the trance as well. When he saw the younger prince, he could not get over the fact of how lucky he were, to be able to be by his side. He felt so blessed to be able to be engaged to such a beautiful prince. He loved everything about Lovino, his brown silky hair, his eyes, his way of speaking, basically he loved everything about him.

Without realising it himself, Antonio took Lovino's hand and pulled him closer. Soon, they were inch between each other and their lips met for a moment, leaving a soft and warm trail on each other.

Antonio broke out of his trance and he realised about what he had just done. He had kissed Lovino, but he did not regret it. Blood risen to his face and the pink coloration could be seen easily on his face now. At the same time, similar thing happened to Lovino. His face turned red, as red as a ripe tomato.

Before Antonio had the chance to say anything, Lovino let go of the his grasp and ran towards the corridor, one hand on his face, trying to cover his embarrassment. Antonio had called his name but Lovino chose to ignore him.

* * *

Lovino darted back into his room. He had entered from the study though, preventing himself to be caught by the guard. When he entered his room, he just went straight to his bed and buried his face on the pillow, not even looking at Feliciano who was sitting at the side of the bed. His mind brought him back to the earlier scene.

He could not believe it, Antonio just kissed him. He was bothered by it, a lot to be honest. Yet, it was not the kiss that bothered him. It was the fact that he did not really mind it. He could not stop thinking about the reason why, but the more he thought about it, the more he was reminded of the scene and he could not stop the blood rising to his face again.

Feliciano was a bit worried, he could see from his side of the bed, the tinge of red on Lovino's face.

"Lovi, are you alright? Did something happened with Antonio?" he asked knowing that, Lovino had just met Antoni earlier on the day.

Lovino was once again reminded of the scene and he buried his face even deeper into the pillow, refusing to look at Feliciano, "It… It's nothing! Nothing happened!" he retorted, "I'm alright, yeah, I'm fine, don't worry!" Obvious panic was mixed with his answer, but Feliciano did not press the matter further. He just sat there quietly, making sure that Lovino was really all right.

* * *

Gilbert rested his body against the wall, musing about the thing that had happened earlier in the morning. He was too naive after all. He had for the prince to remember him, but it was nothing but a dream. For once, his determination wavered slightly. However, when he took a look at the cross he was wearing, he was once again reminded of his childhood. He could not lost his resolve now. The fact that the prince did not remember anything had nothing to do with it. He was still going to do it, to fulfil his promise from 10 years ago.

He was still a bit lost in his own thought when a figure appear from the corner of the corridor. He had recognised it as Lovino's fiancé, Prince Antonio from the neighbouring kingdom. When their gaze met each other, their eyes were full of hostility. They definitely did not make a good first impression on each other, considering the messy incident the previous day.

"Well, if it isn't Prince Toni? What business do you have here?" Gilbert said, obvious mocking in his tone.

Antonio was not pleased with the greeting, nonchalantly he replied him in a similar tone, "Well, of course, Betty. I need to talk with my love. Now if you would get out of the way."

"At least learn my name properly, it's the AWESOME GILBERT for your information."

After a few moments of another pointless argument, there was silence for a little while. Gilbert's eyes soften as he turn to face Antonio. He sighed, "You are his fiancé right? Protect him would you?"

Antonio was taken aback a bit, he did not expect Gilbert to say that at all. Even he could detect the concern in his voice and he was convinced, after looking at his expression, that his feeling was genuine.

"I would not be able to protect him for every seconds. When I'm not here, protect him for me, would you?"

Their eyes met for another moment, but this time, all the hostility was gone. There was something akin to mutual understanding that was build upon their short exchange of words. Both of them acknowledged each other's concern and care for the prince.

Gilbert straightened up, assuming his position as a properly trained and professional bodyguard, "He's inside. You can call him."

They exchanged smile before Antonio approached the door to Lovino's room and knocked on the door.

* * *

"Lovi, it's me Antonio. May I talk to you for a bit?"

Lovino twitched when he hear that voice. It was Antonio's he was sure of it, but he did not want to see him now. He had not settle his own feeling, how can one expect him to face him right now? He stayed silent, face still buried in between his pillow, not planning to let go of it any time soon as his face had once again turned to a tomato.

Another knocks were heard. Feliciano started to get worried. He wanted to answer it for Lovino but he was there in the room and he felt that he should not do anything when Lovino was there.

"Lovi, it's Antonio. Why don't you answer him?" Feliciano whispered to Lovino, nudging him softly at the same time.

Lovino did not budge too much, he just mumbled, "You see him," his voice muffled due to the pillow, "I'm tired, I woke up early today, let me take a rest."

He actually had forgotten that he could just say no to his request. Lovino tried to make up a reason for not meeting Antonio now. It seemed like a plausible reason or at least, Feliciano bought it.

Feliciano approached the door and answered in Lovino's place, "I heard that. What is it about?" his impression of Lovino still did not make it to the cut, but at least he tried.

* * *

Feliciano came out of the room and Antonio greeted him with a shy smile. They moved on to the guest room upon Feliciano's request as Lovino was in the room and he could not get people to see the two of them together at the same time.

They moved on to the guest room, Gilbert followed them as they proceed. Upon reaching the guest room, both of them settled on the coffee table near the window and Gilbert was asked to wait outside the room.

"Lovi, about this morning…" Antonio started.

Feliciano tried to think for a while, Lovino had mentioned nothing about his little rendezvous with Antonio this morning, literally nothing.

"That was… nothing..." he muttered, trying to avoid the conversation about what happened.

Antonio was disappointed by his answer, to be precise, he was utterly disappointed. He had wanted to ask the prince about that and confessed his feelings along with it. He had thought that his advances was a bit too fast, but he did not expect Lovino to brushed it away like that. Yet, he knew that it would not be wise to press the issue when the other party clearly did not want to discuss it.

He managed to brush it off and they ended up spending the whole afternoon chatting about stuff, mostly actually Antonio telling stories to Feliciano about his life. Feliciano tried his best not to say much, especially regarding himself, he knew very well that Lovino and himself were pretty much different in the inside and he did not want to give the wrong impression or anything to other people about the true prince.

Antonio actually realised something different with the prince during their chat, he somehow gave off different aura from this morning. He quickly brushed it off though, thinking that it was because of the morning mood or something similar.

Just ten minutes before the clock hit one, a knock was heard on the door. Alfred was on the other side, calling for Prince Vargas to attend a meeting. Feliciano was suppose to substitute Lovino for the meeting, so he stood up, bid his farewell to Antonio and proceeded to the meeting room, Gilbert and Alfred followed suit. He had been briefed about it before by Lovino that he just needed to listen to the elders and deliver a short speech. The speech itself was written down report so he basically just need to read out the script from the paper. But to be honest, he was very nervous.

All eyes were on him the moment the trio entered the meeting room in the castle. At that time, most seats were filled already, by the elders, advisors and the ministers from the kingdom. The King was there as well, sitting in the middle of the round table, his attendant, Roderich, faithfully standing beside him. Soon, the meeting started and the ministers started their discussion. Feliciano could not understand the discussion at all, they talked about complicated stuff and Feliciano was not one to deal with difficult stuff.

Suddenly, the prince was called and it was Feliciano's turn to read the so called report. Out of nervousness, he stood up too quickly, stumbled on the chair and fell backwards. It was a feat that people would think impossible to happen before seeing it with their own eyes. Feliciano quickly stood up again and he scrambled around to get the papers.

By that time, the room was quiet and all eyes were on him. By that time, he was very scared. He had messed up. His face now flushed and teary. He did not know what to do anymore, not after he messed up. He just wanted to run away, but he knew he could not. He started to stutter and breakdown when he felt a warm, big hand on his right shoulder.

"Calm down, it's okay, Lovi." a soft voice whispering near him, "Take a deep breath, straighten your back." He could feel a soft push on his back, encouraging the correct posture on his cowering back and he abide to it, straightening his back.

Feliciano took a deep breath. Two deep breaths.

"You can do it, Lovi. I know you can do it."

Those words of encouragement somehow gives a warm feeling in his heart. It's not even his own name, but he felt safe. After another deep breath, he then proceeded to read out the report and he did it. No stuttering, no hesitation, the speech was well read.

The rest of the meeting proceeded smoothly, no one seemed to be fazed by what happened and at last after a very long debate about the economy, the meeting was concluded and everyone was free to leave. The King was the first to leave and Feliciano left after him. Just outside the meeting room, Feliciano turned to Gilbert.

"Gilbert, just now…" he smiled, expressing his gratefulness sincerely, "Thank you."

That sweet smile brought pink coloration to Gilbert's pale cheek and he grinned back to the prince. Inwardly though, he cursed himself. He was not supposed to fall in love again.


	6. Chapter 6

Hi~ This chapter will be kinda shorter because the next chapter will be a bit different~

Again, thank you for all your support. I hope people still enjoy this story.

I don't know what else to say though honestly, I feel like every chapter I keep repeating the same thing, but oh well.

Anyway, just enjoy the story. Do review if you like it :D

* * *

The meeting ended, the people scattered back to their own job. Including Feliciano, still as Lovino's body double, and his bodyguards, Alfred and Gilbert. It was a day like any other, the sun had begun to set at that time. The three of them made their way back to Lovino's room, passing the royal garden in the process. Feliciano stopped in his track for a while to admire the scenery. After he had become Lovino's body double, he had spent most of his time confined in the palace, mostly in his room, and he would admit that he really missed the natural scenery that was full of green and colours.

Gilbert seemed to notice Feliciano who was looking at the garden and he approached him, "You seem tired, do you want to take a short walk at the garden, Lo… Prince Vargas?" he initiated, still trying his best to maintain formality in front of his colleague.

Feliciano was a bit surprised by the offer, but he gladly took the offer. It was something that he needed, some kind of rest to his mind and he bet Lovino would not mind him taking a bit longer than expected. Lovino had said the meeting tend to drag on anyway. "I guess I will do."

Upon his answer, Alfred raised his suspicion. Lovino had never even once take a walk in the garden or something similar since ever he started working there. He remembered when he was still smaller, the prince had mentioned that he did not like the garden, to be specific, he did not like places with a lot of plants and trees. When Alfred asked about the reason, he only mentioned that he felt unsafe and Alfred never asked him to take a walk outside anymore. Much to his knowledge, the prince also prefered to spend his time in his studies or the libraries when he was bored or mentally tired.

Alfred's thought was quickly interrupted. Just when Feliciano took a step on the garden itself, an arrow was shot from the distance. The arrow went straight to Feliciano's head, but Gilbert and Alfred was quick to move. In a split second, Gilbert unsheathed his sword and slashed at the pointing arrow. Alfred positioned himself in front of the prince, his sword unsheathed as well, but knowing that Gilbert had made the move, he remained in the defensive stance.

Feliciano was really shocked at the sudden occurrence. He had not seen the arrow coming at all. Only after Gilbert moved and the arrow fell into the ground that he realised that he was targeted. He had expected this to happen sooner or later, he was a body double after all, there was no reason to get a body double except to cover for this.

Assassination attempt.

Of course, someone was clearly targeting, Lovino, the Prince. He thought that he had prepared his heart, but he was still really scared when the real thing happened right in front of his eyes.

"Sir Jones, escort him back to his room. It should be safe there. I will pursue the attacker." Gilbert commanded, his tone left no space for argument even to Alfred who was much more senior than him. But Alfred knew that it was one of the best course of action to take now.

Alfred said nothing and he gestured for Feliciano to retreat to his room. Feliciano retreated at last and Alfred followed, still highly on guard. Gilbert stayed still, he inspected his surroundings carefully, trying to pinpoint the direction where the arrow came from. He remembered it, the angle, the elevation, the speed from which the arrow appeared. He concluded it to come from one of the tree further at the back. He rushed to the direction, his long sword on his side, ready to strike anytime soon.

By the time he reached there, there was no more trace of anyone being there. On one of the tree branch, hung a bow without an owner. Gilbert clenched his fist. He just missed the attacker. Without wasting anymore time, he took the bow with him and returned to make his way back to the room. He was worried that there maybe more than one attacker.

* * *

Feliciano and Alfred made it back to the room safely. There was no trace of other attacker on the way and Alfred had instructed for Feliciano to stay inside the room, while he himself waited for Gilbert outside, standing on guard at the same time.

Inside the room, Lovino had woken up because of the noises from outside. There seemed to be some panic going on and he was convinced when Feliciano came back, his face pale and he looked as if he just met a ghost or something.

"Feli, what just happened?" he asked. The other boy rested his back on the door, his breathing ragged from running. He was still scared and he held his hand on his chest, trying to regulate his own breathing and calm down. Lovino could see that something definitely happened and he brought himself up from his bed and approached Feliciano, gesturing for him to calm down and letting him to sit on one side of the bed. He waited a bit until his breathing become more regular and he ask again, "What happened, Feli?"

Feliciano tried his best to calm himself, he knew he could not falter over something like this, "It was nothing much, Lovi. There was an attack, I was just caught off guard for a bit."

An attack? Lovino did not expect anything like that to be the answer. He was naive. Despite given body double, Lovino did not actually think that someone would really attempt to attack him. Attacking him means the same as rebelling against the kingdom anyway, who in their right mind would want to declare a war with his Kingdom? Guilt and fear sprawled across his heart. He just put Feliciano in danger. But not only Feliciano, he was also in danger.

"A… are you okay?" Lovino stuttered, worries and fear were mixed in his voice.

Feliciano could feel that Lovino was slightly panicking and at that moment, he felt that it was true that when people said you would feel better when you see someone in a worse condition than yourself. Feliciano somehow managed to calm down, "I'm alright, Lovi."

Lovino did not really buy it but he was interrupted when loud voice was heard from outside.

"Sir Jones, is everything alright?!"

That loud voice was definitely Gilbert's, Feliciano and Lovino could recognise it easily.

"Ah, I should at least tell Gilbert that we are alright." Feliciano mentioned as he stood up, but he stood up too fast and his leg gave away, causing him to return to sitting position. Lovino did not miss any of that and he walked towards the door, "I'll do it, Feli. Just rest for now," his voice still full of concern.

The sound of the door opening soon caught the attention of the two bodyguard who were guarding the place, Lovino came out of the room, he was on his guard, aware of the possibility of another attack. It was not that he was useless, he had learned swordsmanship and some other self defense mechanism before and he was actually quite good of it. But the whole situation did caught him off guard.

Gilbert approached Lovino as soon as Lovino came out, "Lovi, are you hurt anywhere?" he asked, voice full of concern. By that time, Alfred had surrendered reminding Gilbert to use formality with the prince because he would just forgot the next time.

"I'm alright." Lovino replied softly. Gilbert could see that he was physically alright, but he did not seem to be faring very well mentally.

"It's okay, I won't let anything like 10 years ago happened again." he reassured Lovino with a soft voice, preventing Alfred from hearing that he had mentioned the incident.

Something suddenly clicked in Lovino's mind. Again, what's with the incident? Was there any connection between the incident and what just happened earlier? He did not know what exactly had happened and he did not know what happened in the past either. Now, he was reminded to ask this to Gilbert whom he had believed would provide him with at least an answer.

"Gilbert, I need to talk to you. Can we move to the studies?" Lovino said, his fear subsided but he was still very wary about the whole situation. Gilbert complied and they moved on to the study. After assessing the situation once more and ensuring that it was safe enough, Alfred left to report the incident to the king and his attendant.

Lovino sat down and settle himself in the studies. For a while, there was a moment of silence. Even Gilbert could not bring himself to break the silence, looking at the prince who seemed to need some time to settle down.

At last, Lovino opened his mouth, "Gilbert, you said you already know me before we met the previous day?"

"Eh… Ah, yeah." Gilbert was a bit taken aback by his question, he just never expected for him to ask that kind of question.

Lovino continued, "You see, to tell the truth, I have no memories of my childhood. To be exact, I did not remember anything from 10 years ago and before that. Not even about the incident."

Everything seemed to make sense to Gilbert now, when he met Lovino again after ten years and he did not recognise him. He had thought that Lovino had just forgotten about their promise. However the moment Lovino mentioned that he did not remember about the incident, something clicked in his mind. The incident was the cause of it.

Memory loss.

"I want you to tell me about it. What is this incident that everyone keeps talking about?" Lovino demanded.

Gilbert hesitated for a moment, if the incident had caused some kind of memory loss to the prince, would telling him be a good answer? Also, Lovino seemed to be different after the attack just now. Before he had a chance to think properly, Lovino continued, "This is not a request. This is an order. Tell me about the incident 10 years ago."

Gilbert was not a man to think much into things and he decided to comply, not that he had the authority to refuse the order. If anything happened, he would just make sure that he was there by his side. And thus, Gilbert started his story.

* * *

Next up is a special chapter : Story About The Past

Notes : May take some time cause I just got a job~


	7. Chapter 7

Hi, I am back from my trip~ But I have quite a problem right now, so I don't know if I could update as often as before my trip.

Anyway, I planned to write the story about the past as one special chapter, but after some consideration, I will break it and put it as normal chapter. Well, it is also apparently longer than I expected, so yeah. I hope people still enjoy this story.

Do leave a review and tell me what you think. I feel that there maybe some inconsistency between this and the past chapters. Sorry if that happened cause I don't really reread the past chapters often. But yeah, just enjoy the story~

* * *

It was the day of the opening ceremony, the day when the prince was supposed to be introduced as the official heir of the kingdom. People from all around the country paid a visit to the palace for this special occasion. They were curious of the Prince, of the successor to the large and powerful Kingdom of Roma. They come from near and far, a lot seeking to build a long term connection to the Kingdom as well.

And then there was this boy. Gilbert Beilschmidt, he was the first son of the Duke of Romania, one of the highest nobility within the Kingdom of Roma that specializes in trading of goods inside and outside of the country. He was thirteen at that time, but what made him sticked out the most was his uniquely silver hair and red eyes. It was something rare, people who saw him for the first time would surely have their attention on him.

That day, he visited the palace as noble guest, to witness the Prince as the Kingdom's official heir. A lot of people, his parents, his relatives, had encouraged him to make friends with the Prince since he was of similar age with the sole heir of the Kingdom. Of course, it went without saying that a lot of them had further motives and intentions. For Gilbert himself, he did want to make friends with the Prince, but not because of any hidden motives, he just wanted to have a friend around his age. He had been surrounded by older people who kept giving him responsibilities one after another and Gilbert wanted to feel how it was to have a friend, someone around his age who could understand him and his playful nature.

Honestly, Gilbert did not know whether he could actually do it or not though since it would be hard for him to actually meet the Prince personally. Despite of his nobility, the Prince was still something out of his league. Gilbert was in the middle of the ballroom when the Prince entered and he was presented to the guest. Everyone cheered, giving a lot of praises to the King and the Prince himself. He used this occasion to study the Prince, he still looked so young and adorable, not one that he would expect to be the heir of such a powerful Kingdom. Before Gilbert had enough time to actually try to approach the Prince though, the Prince had retreated from the ballroom.

Gilbert was disappointed, but he knew better than anyone about his own position so he did not try to press it through, until he saw a troubled looking man near the balcony. He saw this blond man with thick eyebrows around the balcony area and he seemed to be looking for something, an obviously troubled expression was plastered on his face.

"What should I do?" he said as he scratched the back of his head. Normally, Gilbert would just ignore him, but when the man saw him, he immediately get approached, "Ah, excuse me, young sir."

Gilbert was a bit surprised, but he managed to reply properly, with some degree of manners he had learned to address people older than him, "Yes, sir. Is there anything I can help you?"

"May I ask a request out of you? My name is Oliver, I'm actually one of Prince Vargas' attendant and I'm currently in a big trouble."

The word 'Prince' pique his interest and he stopped to listen.

The man smiled slightly, seeing that Gilbert paid attention to him, "You see, I promised the Prince I would watch the fireworks with him tonight, but I suddenly have an urgent matter to attend to. Would you be willing to go in my stead? I believe he would love a new company as well."

"Really? That's awesome, I would love to of course!" Gilbert excitedly replied the man, realising that he was just presented the chance to have an audience with the Prince. With his excitement, most of his formality was gone.

A small laugh was heard, "May I know who you are though? Just in case."

"I'm the awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt, son of the Duke of Romania," he answered proudly.

"Alright, young master, I would open up the way to the main corridor and you can invite him then. Just be careful not to make a ruckus."

"Will do!"

With that, that man showed Gilbert the general direction of the main corridor and Gilbert left with excitement. He never thought that he would actually get a chance to meet the Prince because of some coincidences, but nevertheless he would take the chance.

The man stood around the balcony for a little while, he peeked at the large clock tower from the window glasses. The time indicated was thirty to nine.

"You're such a good actor, Oliver." suddenly someone said mockingly.

He did not turned around, he recognised the voice and he did not need to see him in order to identify the other person. Behind him, stood a man visibly taller than himself, one with blond hair as well, but of darker shade than his.

"Shut up, don't you dare call me by that name. I hate it."

"I know, but that's exactly why I should call you that, right?"

He did not answer that seemingly joking question. Instead, he just walked away, bumping the other man's shoulder on purpose when he made his way out.

"Get ready, we will proceed when the clock strikes nine exact."

* * *

Gilbert did not waste his time, he made his way to the large corridor that the man had told him about. Not even once that he doubted his words. However, Gilbert was not especially good with direction. After a few turns, he started to wonder if he was on the correct track all along. His doubt was quickly cleared when he arrived in a room at one of the corner though, it actually looked like a pantry or something similar, but he did not care as he found what he was looking for.

Standing near the window of the room was a small boy. Gilbert recognised the brown hair and curl of the boy, it was the same with what he had saw in the ballroom. The boy was peeking out of the window, his head barely over the lower frame of the window. From Gilbert's point of view, he could see that the boy was looking at the ballroom where he came from. It was still bustling with musics and crowds. Now he realised that he apparently had walked quite a distance from the main ballroom.

"Hi!"

The boy was startled when he heard his voice, he stumbled a bit and pressed himself to the wall. He looked like he was ready to run away sooner or later. Gilbert realised this and he quickly raised up his hands, trying to show that he means no harm, "Ah,I didn't mean to scare you. You see, my name is Gilbert, the awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt to be exact! Would you like to be my friend?! And you are?"

He said as he stepped closer and stretched out his hand to the younger boy.

The younger boy seemed to be surprised by the gesture and he retreated back further. The boy studied Gilbert for a while, eyeing him from head to toe. At last, after moments of silence, he stretched out his hand slowly and muttered, "I-I'm L-Lovino."

* * *

Feliciano had lived in the castle as long as he could remember, but he was just the child of an attendant. He spend his daily lives in one of the side towers in the palace ground and he was never allowed to go outside by his parents. It was just on that day, Feliciano had heard about the ball, about the ceremony. He wanted to see it, the notion of party always interest the young child, but he had never went into one as his parents would object. However, as one growing and curious boy, he really wanted to see the party. Thus, on that day, Feliciano slipped out from the tower, trying to find a place where he would be able to watch the ceremony without getting caught. And there he found a place, in a small side kitchen near the main palace, no one would go there on such a grand occasion since everyone would be using the main and larger kitchen.

He was observing the ballroom, it was very grand and beautiful. He could hear the music faintly from that place and he enjoyed it. He could not stopped thinking about how nice it would be if he was able to be there, to be in the middle of the party, enjoying the company of people, dancing to the music and savoring the food. Feliciano knew it was just a whim of his and he just stared at the ballroom, lost in his own imagination.

That's until he heard a sound that broke his thought.

"Hi!"

There was someone else. Feliciano was scared, he did not want to be seen. He was scared that his parents would scold him if they knew that he had actually get out of the tower to see the party. So he just kept quiet, now, he just wanted to get away.

"Ah,I didn't mean to scare you. You see, my name is Gilbert, the awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt to be exact! Would you like to be my friend?! And you are?" the boy continued as he stretched out his hand.

Friend? The word made Feliciano flinched. He did not have any friend in the tower and it was a lie if he did not want any. He actually thought maybe it was okay for him to make friend. Thus, Feliciano observed the other boy who introduced himself as Gilbert. He looked around his age indeed and he said he did not mean to scare him, he did not look harmful as well. Was it okay for him to accept his offer? He did not know, but Feliciano just could not resist the child in him, the child longing for a friend, for a companion.

He stretched out his hand slowly, trying to reciprocate Gilbert. At that moment, he was reminded of his parents words. His parents had warned him before, just in case, just in case that he got out and someone found him. That he should never tell his real name to anyone. That he must introduce himself as the Prince, Lovino Vargas instead. He had asked his parents of the reason, but he never got an answer and when he looked at their expression when saying that, he decided that he should not press the matter.

And so, as an obedient son, he followed his parents words, "I-I'm L-Lovino."

* * *

Meanwhile, Lovino just got back to his room from the ballroom. He had originally wanted to retire for the day but something made him dismiss the idea. He had overheard his father's conversation with his attendant, Sir Edelstein, earlier in the day. He remembered vividly some of the lines that had come out from the King's mouth.

'Should we tell him that he actually had a brother?'

'Should we let them meet?'

It came quite clear to him that the conversation was centered around himself and if that was true, that meant he had a brother! It was not some kind of development that he would expect, but he was curious. If he had a brother, there should be a reason why he never met him before. There should be a reason why his father had not allowed him to meet him before. In the end, he decided that if his father were not going to make him see his so called brother, he would look for him himself. Tonight was a perfect timing, the palace was busy and he would use the chance to walk around in search of the mentioned brother.

With no clue at all, Lovino got out of his room and proceeded along the corridor. He decided that he would start looking near the area, not the ballroom since he would not want to entertain the guests. Just as he turned at one of the corridor, he spotted someone. He did not want to be spotted by the adults, he knew that either he would be brought back to his room or he would end up entertaining them. However, what he saw was a boy around his age and he let his guard down, causing him to actually stumble and make a sound.

The boy turned to the direction of the sound which was where Lovino was. Upon seeing Lovino, the boy's eyes gleamed.

"Oh, you are the Prince, right!"

Lovino was a bit startled, but he remained there, studying the other boy's figure. He did not recognised him. The boy had a slightly curly dark brown hair and bright green eyes and he seemed to be only slightly older than himself.

"I am," he replied curtly, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"My name's Antonio! You can call me Toni though! Can I call you Lovi?"

* * *

Author's Note :

I just want to make one thing clear in case that some people are still confused. It is Arthur who talked with Gilbert, he just used the name 'Oliver' cause I am lazy to think of any other name~


	8. Chapter 8

Yeay, another update~ Thank you for your continuous support to this story. When writing this and other stories, I think I kinda realised that I'm not meant to write romance story~ Don't worry, I will continue and finish the story until the end~

I have a question though, does anyone actually realised that Arthur and his partner are important characters in this story? Only in this chapter that who his partner is is revealed, but yeah~

Anyway, shouldn't rant too much, enjoy!

* * *

Gilbert was ecstatic, but not because of the Prince. The fact that he was able to make friends was already enough to make him feel joy. At that moment, he completely forgot that he was even with the Prince. What's on his mind was just the fact that he just gotten a friend. Gilbert smiled widely and Feliciano, feeling safer not using his real name, smiled shyly.

He did not forget what he was there for though, he suddenly remembered about that man who had introduced himself as Oliver to him, the Prince's attendant he supposed.

"Lovi! Your… No, would you see the fireworks with me?!" he offered, a bit too excitedly. Regardless, Gilbert actually followed the instruction he had been given. He remembered that Oliver told him that he should not said that it was his attendant who wanted himself to invite the Prince or he might disagree.

Feliciano was a bit taken aback by the sudden invitation, he was not used to all of this. He was not used to dealing with people, he really spent too much time by himself in his solitary tower during his childhood. He never had a friend either. However, the invitation actually made his heart fluttered. He felt that for once, that he was being recognised, that someone actually realised and cared for him. Anyway, after all that happened, he did want to see the fireworks.

Friends, companionship, party and others, all things that had seemed to be a dream for Feliciano had never been seem so close to him before.

"O-okay. Gil," his voice was soft, slight hesitation could still be heard.

Gilbert did not catch that though, without any hesitation, he held Feliciano's hand and led him out of the dark corner of the palace. He brought him to the open garden, one of the largest garden in the palace. The flowers were blooming at that season and everything looked beautiful, topped with the large fountain that shined in the centre of it all.

"It's beautiful."

It was Feliciano muttering, much to Gilbert's surprise. He turned to see the expression that the other boy had made. It was something that he did not expect at all, something akin to adoration. It seemed as if it was his first time presented with a sight like that.

"Lovi?"

"Ah, no, it's just that, It's been a long time… since I went outside of the palace."

Feliciano's word was true, but Gilbert, not knowing that he was not actually with the real Prince Vargas, interpreted his words as something different. He thought that because he was the Prince of such a large Kingdom that he was not allowed to roam freely. He could not stopped thinking, he had thought before that becoming a Prince, a real one, would be the best blessing that one could have. Yet, looking at the small Prince beside him now made him doubted that.

Gilbert kept walking, but his wandering thought made him tripped on a small pebble and he fell flat on his face, creating a kinda loud thudding sound in the process.

"!- A-are you okay?"

Gilbert tried to support himself using his two hands, man, he could not feel even lamer at that point of time. He scratched his head and turned towards Feliciano, smiling, trying to gesture that he was fine. Feliciano looked at him, a bit dusty and all, but he was fine nonetheless, until he saw a scratch on the palm of Gilbert's hand. Then he remembered something, something that his mother had taught him about when he was small (and scratched himself often).

He looked around, only stopped when he spotted a white coloured wild flower in the middle of the grassy area. He plucked it off and walked towards Gilbert who was still sitting on the ground.

"Gil, your hand," at that point of time, all the hesitation before seemed to have disappear from Feliciano's speech.

"Eh?" Gilbert still a bit confused, but he gave his hand obediently and that was when he realised that there was a scratch on his palm. It doesn't hurt that much and honestly, he was too used to it, he fell down too often when he was even smaller.

Feliciano used the flower he had picked before, it produces some kind of grease and he gently smeared it over the wound. Careful not to press too hard as he knew it would be painful.

"Thank you, you're good at this," Gilbert said with a smile.

A slight blush formed in Feliciano's face, even a simple word of 'thank you' meant so much to him, he smiled too, "I used to fall down when I was small. My mom taught me about this, a natural ointment for wound. It works very well!"

He's still small. That's the first thing that came into Gilbert's mind, but he did not said it out loud, "Haha, I fell down a lot too! We're the same!"

This time, Feliciano let out a laugh. They chatted for some times, sharing smiles and laughters in between. For both of them who never felt this kind of companionship before, it was something that they did not want to end. Both of the felt so happy, so grateful that they were able to meet each other. Unknown to them, their meeting was a nothing but what's supposed to be a cruel fate.

The clock almost struck nine. It was almost the time for firework, Gilbert remembered. He looked at Feliciano, his reserved self seemed to be gone already. Whenever he looked at Feliciano though, Gilbert could not help but to think if there was anything he could do for him. Feliciano looked so small in his eyes and considering that his freedom was restrained, he could not help but to want to do something.

"Lovi, what's your dream?" Gilbert suddenly asked, grabbing Feliciano's hand with his uninjured palm. His small hand fits perfectly under his grab.

"Dream?" Feliciano stopped to think, he remembered when he used to stare at the garden, the beautiful scenery from the narrow window he had in the tower, and suddenly his eyes beamed with excitement "I want to explore the world!"

Gilbert did not miss it. Feliciano's eyes shined like it never before and it was one satisfying feeling for Gilbert to know that even Feliciano could be that excited. But it reminded him of other things, for a Prince to wish to explore the world, how confined was his world, really?

"I know!" Gilbert suddenly stood up, a brilliant idea came to his mind, "You know? I have a dream also!"

Feliciano was a bit startled but he still kept his attention at the older boy.

"I want to be a knight! The best knight in the entire world! I know of course the awesome me would be able to do it. But now there's something else that I want to do!" Gilbert looked at Feliciano, pulled him so he stood up on par with him. Of course that the other was visibly shorter than him, but they looked at each other in the eyes, "I will be your knight! You will be the Prince and I will be your knight! I will protect you and then we can go and explore the world!"

Never for once in Feliciano's life that he was given that much hope. At that point of time, he did not even care anymore that he was not actually the prince. He just wanted to be given a chance to stay with Gilbert and maybe… just maybe… let his dream came true…

"It's a promise!" Gilbert offered his pinky finger. Offered may not be the correct word, he basically took Feliciano's pinky in his and just like that, the promise was made.

Feliciano actually felt a bit hesitant. He wondered what would Gilbert feel if he said that he was not the Prince? He wanted to tell Gilbert the truth, he wanted to came clear with his first friend.

"Gil, I!"

BANG!

DOR!DOR!DOR!

A loud sound, accompanied by the flashing lights of the fireworks surrounded the area. After that, the scene was etched to Gilbert's mind like a curse. Feliciano fell into the ground, red covered every part of his body. His brown hair was stained with red and no longer was he able to see the hazel colour of his eyes. And Gilbert screamed. Loud and even louder, he screamed for help.

Watching the whole scene was Arthur, on the tree with a sniper rifle rested on his hand. Smoke coming out from its mouth, indicating the recent use. He cursed himself. He had just missed.

* * *

-PRESENT TIME-

"After that, help came and they separated both of us. And the Kingdom was closed to public for a few years." Gilbert finished his story.

Lovino kept quiet throughout the whole story. Everything that Gilbert said seemed so real, but somehow, nothing ringed a bell in Lovino's mind. He did not have any recollection of anything similar happened to him.

"Lovi?" Gilbert asked, breaking the silence. His face was one of concern.

Lovino sighed, "That's all for today," and just like that, he left Gilbert alone.

* * *

The sun was starting to set when a figure approached the large tree on the backyard. He leaned on the stone wall separating him from that tree and started to open his mouth.

"How's your day, Arthur?"

There was a moment of silence before another voice was heard, it was coming from a silhouette above one of the larger tree branches.

"You're late. What have you been doing?"

"You know I'm busy, as usual."

Arthur sighed, "By the way, I see that there are a lot of guards suddenly. What's the occasion?"

Another moment of silence was observed, Arthur looked around the palace. It was true that there were more guards patrolling around the area. However, it was still an easy feat for Arthur to stay hidden with his cloak blending with the darkness surrounding him.

"We have an intruder."

"Hoo, from where?"

"I don't know. But that's not important now. I need you to confirm something."

Arthur was curious, he at last turned around and looked at his partner in crime, studying his expression which was subtly hidden by the shadow, "What is it?"

"The prince, I think there are two of them."

It took him a few minutes before he realised the meaning of that sentence, a smirk formed in his lips, "I see. That's interesting. When would you like it?"

"Anytime you like. Anytime you can."

Arthur let out a small laughter, he now changed his attention from his partner to one specific window in the middle of the palace. He stretched out his hands, simulating a frame to aim at the corner of the window.

"Make sure you do your job properly, Alfred."

* * *

 **NOTES :** I just realised this is a very short chapter


End file.
